NINE MONTHS

On December 19th, my sweet baby turned 9 months old. It's weird to think that if someone got pregnant on the day he was born, their baby would be due any moment now. Baby Jo has been out of womb as long as he was in there.

What a fun age. Jo has added so many tricks to his routine. He was can sit up by himself (as of a week before turning 7 months old). As of the first week of December, he can CRAWL! His crawl is adorable. Initially, he would move his arms forward one at a time and then hop his two knees together at the same time. Last week, he has gotten the hang of moving his knees. He is now so busy! He loves to crawl to wires and attempt to chew on them. I didn't realize how many friggin' wires are in my house until he started crawling. He also follows me around crawling. He likes to be where the action is. He has gotten better at crawling on tile, though he usually crawls up to the tile, pats it with his hand, and then proceeds. He is improving his ability to sit himself up after rolling or crawling on the floor. It is so fun to see his progress each day.

Despite his ability to crawl, he still prefers to be held. He is anything but delicate, however. He loves to dangle upside down, be thrown in the air, and literally tossed from parent to parent. He also loves it when I spin him in circles while holding him. I think he will be a thrill seeker when he is older!

Another adorable "trick" is high fiving. When you stick out your open palm, he will repeatedly slap it with his own. It is so precious. He also likes to mimic sounds. He makes a cute shriek (an oxymoron, I know) that he will do over and over if you repeat it back to him.

As of December 29th, he has started clapping! I've yet to catch it on camera.

He LOVES to pull and chew on hair. Jordan's father has thick, coarse hair that Baby Jo loves to grab and stuff in his mouth. When I wear a ponytail or braid, he likes to hold it in his hand and chew on the end like a licorice rope. If my hair is down, he just goes for grabbing fistfulls of it at a time.

He is a rather affectionate baby. He give big, open mouth, sloppy, wet kisses. He likes to kiss noses, cheeks, and chins. If I am sitting on the floor, he crawls up onto my lap. It's too sweet.

His favorite game is peek-a-boo. If he gets hurt or is angry and starts crying, peek-a-boo usually is a good antidote. If that fails, tossing him up in the air will do the trick. He likes to be tickled and sung to. He is extremely smiley and laughs so much. He makes friends anywhere we go. Anyone who gives him minimal attention ends up receiving a big, open-mouthed, gummy smile. Baby Jo is still toothless, which I don't mind.

He is still not sure about eating. He is a pretty stubborn eater, but he has a few favorites. He LOVES bananas, and likes Gerber's Chicken and Apples. I have a hard time getting him to eat, so he still nurses regularly.

He is down to two naps a day. I mourned his lost third nap, but he now goes to bed earlier so it evens out.

What can I say? We just drool over him. It's been so bitter sweet to watch him grow. My heart aches seeing my former new born catapulted into toddlerhood, but I am also so grateful to see him be healthy and thrive!

We love you Baby Jo (Aka J-Man, Jo Willy, Puppy)

A nice story

This week something sweet happened to me that I wanted to remember.

I shop at a store called Aldi. It's a grocery that offers discount prices with two catches: you have to bag your own groceries and you can only pay with cash or DEBIT card (not credit card). This is literally the only place where I use my debit card. We usually pay with our credit card for everything to rack up our "thank you" points.

Anyway, this week I was shopping at Aldi with Baby Jo strapped to me. He hates being in his carseat when we shop, and he isn't crazy about sitting in the cart's seat. So instead, he happily dangles in his Baby Bjorn carrier while I pick up all our food. This, of course, attracts lots of attention. People often make comments like, "Gee, does your back hurt?" or make googoo eyes at Jo. Sure enough, while I was in the check out isle, a nice lady behind me was smiling and cooing at Baby Jo. She then moved to the next check out isle due to a cashier opening another lane.

After I placed all my groceries on the conveyer and the cashier scanned everything, she gave me my total. "$44.15, please." I opened my wallet and....my debit card was not in there. I had no idea where it was, and since I never use it I didn't notice it was missing until right then. I frantically shuffled through my entire wallet and didn't see it anywhere. I checked to see if I had any cash on me. I had 30 bucks. Yikes.

"Um...So here's the thing," I explained, "I don't have my debit card. I DO have cash, but not enough. So I'm gonna have to take some things out of my cart." I felt like such a moron. It didn't help that there were about four people in line behind me, witnessing this whole thing. As I was bouncing Jo on my chest, I started listing things in my cart that I knew I didn't need to have that day. "Uh...I guess lose the cheese...and you can take out the yogurt.." I was a little flustered when all of a sudden, I heard someone say, "Ma'am! I can help you! I'll help!"

I turned around and realized that the voice was the nice lady that was previously behind me in my line. She was holding her debit card. I was caught off guard. She said, "I have four kids and I know how hard it is to shop with babies. It's easy to forget things." My initial reaction was to stop her. Surely it was unnecessary.  After all, I wasn't a poor woman who couldn't afford to feed her children. I was just a dork  with bad timing who lost her debit card. But I stopped myself from refusing her help. For one thing, she obviously WANTED to help. She wasn't even in my line anymore. She had no pressure to save me. She sought me out. Also, I thought to myself, "I am in a bind. And if someone wants to help me, why can't I let them?"  So I let her help.

Obviously, I was flushed and thanked her multiple times. "Thank you. This is so kind. I usually have my card with me. This is so nice of you. Thank you." I sounded like a broken record. The cashier, now smiling, said, "It's $44.15." The lady handed the cashier her card. I stopped her and said I had $30 in cash to cover most of the groceries, but I was so touched that she was willing to pay such a large amount. She covered the $14.15 left over and reminded me again that she understood how shopping with kids is tough. The man behind me in line was noticeably touched by the whole thing. "This is certainly what the Christmas Spirit is all about, " he said (at he said something very similar to that). I was a little teary eyed through the whole thing and thanked the woman again. After she left, the man behind came up to me wished me a Merry Christmas.

I am so thankful to the sweet lady who offered to help someone who was NOT in desperate need (after all, I could have just went home and got the food another day). Sometimes we think the people we need to help are the poor and needy- and we DO need to help them! But, we can look out and help the less needy too. Everyone can use kindness. And the event reminded me of the importance of accepting help from others. Help is a good thing to accept, especially when it is offered. I have a feeling that this sweet woman who helped me out felt good for the rest of the day and looks back on our moment together with happiness. I know I do.


And, of course, when I got to my car my debit card was just sitting there. Oops.

31

Today, my sweet hubster turned 31. He has said in passing that it's a weird age to turn, because now he is officially in his 30's. I know, I know; he was officially in his 30's the day he turned 30- BUT, 30 is really like 20-10...or something.

You know the expression, "Age is just a number?" I feel that that applies to Jordan. His age is fluid. Sure, biologically he is 31, but he has other ages, too.


Some nights, Jordan's age is 75. These are the nights where we sit down to watch a show together at 8:15 pm and he passes out on the couch before the show is even over.

Sometimes, Jordan is 15. This age pops up at any and ALL times that he can say, "That's what she said." Oh, brother.

Sometimes Jordan is 5, like at night when he wakes me up because he's had a nightmare....only instead of dreaming about monsters under the bed, he dreamed about our baby smothered in our bed covers.

Sometimes Jordan is a 60 year old retiree, like how he only wanted golf supplies for his birthday and Christmas.

On Sundays, Jordan is 90 years old because he can be found in the FAMILY HISTORY CENTER. That's his calling! Ha.

In the car, Jordan is a cute 16 year old (though he drives better than a 16 year old), because he always wants to hold his girlfriend's hand while driving.

At work, Jordan is a 25 year old....at least that's what his patients think.

Anytime Jordan shaves his facial hair, Jordan is a 22 year old. Such a baby face.

But usually, he is just an awesome 31 year one year old who provides for his family, adores his baby, and loves his wife. The world's been a little better for the past 31 years. We are lucky to have him.

Happy Birthday, Babe!

Happy Belated Halloween

 

This year, we were a family circus- a ringleader, a monkey, and a bearded lady. I was so excited to have do a family costume theme. I know that eventually, Baby Jo will start wanting to pick his own costumes and will think his mom dressing up to compliment his costume choice is super lame. But until that day comes, it's gonna be family themed costumes all the way!



This was also the first Halloween in our house so we got to have trick-or-treaters! I was pretty stoked about it. I loved seeing all the kids in their costumes. My friends took their kids trick-or-treating in our neighborhood and we joined them for a few houses. I'm sure it was obvious that we were the ones who would eat Baby Jo's candy, but he could hold his own bag so that has to count for something!

What better way to end Halloween night than to wear Pumpkin PJ's?

I can't wait until next year when Jo can join in on all the excitement!

Hawaii By the Numbers

On September 19, Jordan, Baby, and I flew out of Seattle to Kauai with my parents. We met by brother and his family and spent 10 amazing days in the Garden Island. I hadn't been to Hawaii since I was 14, and I hadn't been to Kauai since I was 11, so it was a much needed reunion. Jordan had NEVER been to Hawaii before, so it was an even more needed introduction. Here is our trip by the numbers. Some of these numbers are exact, others are estimates.

Number of hours spent in the air from Seattle to Kauai: 5 1/2

Number of minutes into the plane ride before Baby Jo fell asleep: 3

Number of times I thought, "Oh, cool! Kauai has wild chickens!": 1

Number of times I thought, "Oh my gosh, I HATE these stupid wild chickens!": 1000

Number of degrees it was in our AC-free condo: 78

Number of degrees it FELT like: 130

Number of dollars we saved by making our baby sleep in a suitcase instead of shipping a Pack n' Play: 50 (worth it).

Number of beaches we visited: 7 (I think). They were all beautiful. Some were perfect for boogie boarding, some were awesome for snorkeling, and some were great for good ol' swimming. I never got sick of going to the beach.

Number of Sea Turtles I saw: 5. I got to see three while snorkeling, and two while boogie boarding. Well, correction: while Jordan and Troy were boogie boarding and I was hanging out on the beach after what felt like inhaling 5 gallons of sea water from crashing on my board.

Number of monk seals we got to see: 3. They were all so cute and so laaaaazy!


Number of nights Baby Jo slept great: 0. Poor guy. He never seemed to be able to adjust to the Hawaii time zone....until the last day. Awesome.

Number of times we got overpriced Hawaiian Shave Ice: 3.

Number of times I thought the expensive shave ice was worth it: 1. The best place was JoJo's. I should've known.

Number of cool things I saw while snorkeling: countless. We saw a dead reef shark (eek), several eels, a flounder, the aforementioned  turtles, and amazing fish. I think snorkeling was my favorite thing to do in the water.

Number of miles it took to travel up Waimea Canyon: 18. It was an all day trip to travel up to the top and back down again, but it was worth it. It was such an incredible sight. Plus, it is a big tourist place so there was many people around taking pictures. Jordan had the pleasure of eavesdropping on several German tourists' conversations and finding a way to talk to them. He can never help himself! :)

Number of days it rained: 6. The rain in Kauai was crazy. The weather would go something like this: Beautiful, sunny, perfect, DOWN POUR, sunny, sunny, nice, TYPHOON, sunny. This would be all within an hour. Luckily, the rain never lasted too long and it was pretty warm, so it worked out well.

Number of Hula dancers we saw: 4. We caught a short performance different dancers would perform as a sneak peek into their longer luau. While we were watching the girls shake their hips at lightening speed, Jordan leaned in and whispered to me, "Hey, you should learn to dance like that." Homeboy got island fever. Sorry, buddy. You married a white girl with even whiter hips.

Number of times we plan to go back to Hawaii with a baby: 0.

Don't get me wrong- we had a fabulous time and we had tons of help from our family. Still, we learned that vacationing with a baby is just DIFFERENT. This was our first family trip with Baby Jo (aside from me traveling to visit family sans Jordan) and it was definitely an adjustment. However, aside from his crappy sleeping, Baby Jo did a pretty awesome job on the trip. He loved to be in the water and seemed to love the taste of salt water even more. He didn't seem to mind getting sand all over him and did really well on the plan rides. He was such a happy trooper.

The numbers don't lie. It was an incredible trip. I'm ready to go back in a heartbeat!

ALOHA!

6 Months Round Up

So much to blog about, so little time.

For now, I wanted to document some info about my little Jo because on September 19th he turned SIX MONTHS OLD! What?! 

This little nugget is such a blessing and treasure. We absolutely drool over him. He returns the saliva based sentiments. He is also the source of 95% of my stress. (Sleep training, amIright?) Here are some tidbits on our guy.

Hobbies: He finally has learned how to roll back to his back after being on his tummy. For two months, he would roll onto his stomach, wiggle his arms and legs, get frustrated and cry. I desperately tried to teach him (ha) how to roll to his back, but he was never having it. Now he happily rolls back and forth, which is awesome for everyone involved.

He still loves to talk and coo, though he does it a little less often. He loves to blow spit bubbles and chew on everything, except food. Sucking on his fingers is still his go-to fun.

He's gotten into toys more, but his favorite things to hold are phones and kitchen utensils. My mom recently gave me a honey drizzle wand. It is currently his favorite thing to chew and bang.

As of this morning, his favorite big toy is his jumper. It is so cute to watch him bounce and jump in it. He also likes his exersaucer, but only for about 10 minutes at a time. Hey, man- I'll take every ten minutes I can get!

 

His Chris Farley Impression

Food: At the suggestion of his doctor, we tried to give him baby cereal at 4 1/2 months to see if it helped him sleep. He had zero interest in it. We tried prunes and he was not into those. We tried pears and he liked them, but his sleep still sucked. We finally decided to forget about feeding him until after our vacation and he was 6 1/2 months old. As of today, we tried green beans and pears (not together) and they both made it down the hatch, though the pears were more welcomed. I have been dreading feeding him because of the MESS and hassle, so I think I am gonna take it slow on the food for now.

Sleep: Oh, this child.  He slept awesome until about 4 months old and then he suddenly started getting up multiple times per night. At five months we weaned him out of his swaddle (which was hard, but necessary for him) and now he sleeps in a sleep sack. He was doing ok until we decided to travel to two different times zones with him. In three weeks, we went to Seattle, then Hawaii, then back to Seattle. Throughout the whole trip and ever since our return he has been out of whack with his sleep schedule. I am a very tired person, but whatever. I'll sleep when I'm dead.

Swaddle Baby

Sleep Sack Baby

Sleeping Baby

Music:  He still loves music, whether it is on the radio or he is being sung to by his parents. His favorite song is STILL Hallelujah by The Canadian Tenors. That song has some weird magical power over him. It's too funny.

Countenance: My absolute favorite thing about Baby Jo is how easily he smiles. If anyone talks to him, stranger or family, he breaks out in an adorable gummy smile.  He also laughs easily, though his big cousin Erica seems to get the best laughs out of him above anyone else. He seems to be more easily pacified and though his whines frequently, he rarely bawsl or screams.

Stranger Danger: What is that? Jo has no care who is holding him, as long as he isn't touching the poisonous floor. However, he recently has shown more excitement when he sees me, which is new. Can't say that I mind at all.

 

He makes life harder, more exhausting, but better. We just love this little guy.

Another Episode of Sleep Talking

One of my all time favorite characters is Sleep Talking Jordan. He hasn't been around for a while, but his friend, Half Asleep Talking Jordan showed up tonight.

Jordan was asleep on the couch while I was checking my email. Then this happened:

Me: *A little too loudly* Dang it!

Jordan: *opening his eyes* Huh? What.

Me: "Oh, there's this continuing education class that is super cheap coming to town, but it's scheduled for when we will be on vacation."

Jordan: "Do you pay for all of that crap? Every morning?"

Me: "Huh?"

Jordan: "Every morning, when you look at all those pictures...."

Me: "OK, you're obviously half asleep right now, so you don't know what you're saying, but I'm excited to tell you about it tomorrow!"

Jordan: *acting determined* "No, what were you talking about?"

Me: "I just said that I can't go to a continuing ed class that's coming."

Jordan: "Yeah, I know! Those pictures....you know you look at...."

Me: "Whatever, Honey."


Since we are on the subject, Jordan has a strange recurring dream that wreaks havoc on his sleep (and the sleep of any who share his bed).  Ever since we brought the baby home, Jordan CONSTANTLY dreams that the baby is in our bed with us, trapped under the pillows or stuck under our heavy blankets. If it is not that, then the baby has fallen off our bed. Poor Jordan wakes up from his nightmare and begins shaking all the pillows, pulling the covers off the bed, or jumps out of bed and wanders the room. This, of course, wakes ME up. Which often leads of this repetitive conversation.

Jordan: *shaking my arm* "Where is he? He's stuck under here!"

Me: "No, he's not, Jordan. You're dreaming."

Jordan: "But I SAW him. He was put in here."

Me: "No, he's not. He's in his crib."

Jordan: "Oh.... *mutters something about stupid dreams*"

One night Jordan was so adamant that the baby was trapped in our covers that he didn't believe until I had to show him Baby Jo was asleep in the video monitor. I feel sorry for Jordan. These dreams are always very distressing to him. I feel sorry for me, too.

Review of Life at 4 Months

Hey guys, Baby Jo here. I think it is clear that my mom isn't doing so great at blogging. She makes the excuse that she doesn't have time, but c'mon! After feeding me, changing me, putting me down for naps, bathing me, and holding me constantly I'm sure she has plenty of time. Anyway, I thought I would do her a solid and blog for her.

As of last Saturday (the 19th), I have been around here for four months! FOUR MONTHS! My parents keep going on and on about how they "can't believe it's gone by so quickly" and how I'm "growing up way too fast" and how pretty soon I will be graduating high school. They are a little dramatic. Sheesh. Since I've been on the planet for four months now, I thought I would share my opinion on life through various categories. Here is my review on life as a four month old.

Mom/Cafeteria: I know it's lame for a kid to say they like their mother, but mine is really really growing on me. I'm starting to prefer her to strangers, which is new. Plus, she is kind of hilarious. She does this thing where she pretends to eat my feet- HAHAHA!....Ok, maybe it's one of those things that you have to be there for, but trust me, it's funny. I crack up every time.
 My favorite thing to do with my mom is a game called "Fly and Drool". My mom lies on her back and lifts me horizontally over her head while calling out, "You can fly!" Next, I give her a big open mouth smile and proceed to let a long line of drool fall on her. She doesn't seem to like that part as much as I do.
My mom's favorite thing to do with me is rock me in a rocking chair and sing. Sometimes I really like doing this with her, but sometimes it is borderline torture. Hey, I'm a baby. I'm allowed to be as fickle as I like.

Dad/That Guy With the Fun Facial Hair: I like him, too. Sometimes he isn't sure about my feelings toward him, though. It's simply a scheduling problem. See, 4:30 pm is Dad's time to come home from work, and 4:35 pm is my time to be extremely fussy for no reason at all. Don't take it personal, Dad.
Dad is a funny guy, too. I easily laugh at him, especially when he blows on my belly and I grab onto his attempt at a beard.

Milk/My Drug: Initially, I was a little apathetic toward nursing. I was all, "Whatever. This stuff tastes ok, I guess. I'd rather just sleep some more." But once I turned about one month old, I was HOOKED. I wanted to nurse every two hours, and often more frequently than that. My addiction went one until about two weeks ago. I'm slowly regaining self control. I can go anywhere from two and a half to three hours in between my fixes now. My drug dealer doesn't seem to mind.

Sleep: I'm not sure how I feel about sleep. Some nights I think it is a great idea, and other nights I think, "Maybe thrashing around in my swaddle and grunting all night would be more satisfying." Mom thinks I'm wrong, but what does she know? She never sleeps. I do not really like naps, though. I ALWAYS try to convince Mom that I don't need one when she puts me down for a nap...then somehow I wake up an hour later. I think that woman is a witch. I currently take four naps a day. They average anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour. My parents still put me in my swaddle straight jacket at night.

Church: I don't know what it is, but there is something about that place that makes me want to do two things: Cry forever and blow out of my diaper. Yet Mom STILL hasn't learned. She insists on dressing me like a dork almost every Sunday.

Music: Probably one of my favorite things about Earth is the music. I love to be sang to, I love to have music playing in the background, and I love to sing myself. I only know one song. It goes like this: "Oh, OWWW, Ow, Ow, Ooooh." My parents say it's beautiful and surely THEY aren't biased or anything. My favorite song of all time is Hallelujah covered by the Canadian Tenors. When I hear that song, I can't help but stop crying and listen. It's hypnotic. Coincidentally, it must be my parents' favorite song as well, because they play it on repeat in the car with me, during my nap times, and whenever I am extra angry....hey, wait a minute.... those punks.
My other favorite songs are my lullabies. My mom sings Mockingbird Hill, The Stars Are Out, Santa Fe, and You Belong to Me. Dad sings a bunch of German songs that are soothing, but I don't know their names.

The Mirror/My Best Friend: Have you guys met the baby in the mirror? He's only the coolest guy EVER. I'm always happy to see and stare at him. Car rides used to be painful torture, but my mom let the mirror baby ride along with me in the backseat, and now we just have pleasant conversations together.

Swimming: First I was like....



But I like it now.

Hobbies: My hobbies include trying to cram as many fingers in my mouth as possible (four is my record), playing in my jungle gym, and rolling from my back to my belly. It took me forever to learn but I'm a pro now. The only problem is once I roll to my tummy...I have no clue what to do after that. I just end up crying.

My Name: My opinion on my name? Uh....I have no idea. Guys, it's embarrassing, but I have NO idea what my real name is. My parents call me a million different things everyday. If I had to guess, it's either Nugget or Munchkin. Mom also calls me Puppy, Chubs, Joney, JoJo, and Sweet Pea. Dad calls me Hotdog, Chunky Butt, and Son. Your guess is as good as mine as to my correct identity.

Relatives: I have met five out of my seven cousins so far. They are pretty cool! I also love my aunts, uncles, and grandparents. My mom always says, "You are one loved baby!" I think she is right. Lots of people to manipulate! I just have to meet two other cousins and two more uncles and I will have met everyone!

So to summarize, I will say that my overall review of life is pretty great! I plan stick around for a long time!